Swivel joint apparatus and method for utility supply to a rotatable building

ABSTRACT

A swivel joint apparatus for supplying utilities to a rotating building rotatable about a central axis has an inner, fixed spindle for securing to a fixed base of the building to extend co-axially with a central axis of rotation of the building, and an outer casing rotatably mounted on the spindle for securing to the rotatable part of the building. The spindle has a series of spaced annular flanges defining a series of annular chambers and at least one ring seal mounted on the peripheral edge of each flange for rotatable sealing engagement with the outer casing so that the casing forms an outer wall of each of the annular chambers. A lower end wall of the spindle has a plurality of ports for connection to fixed utility lines in the base for fluid supply to and from the building, each port connected through the spindle to a respective annular chamber. The outer casing has a series of axially spaced ports for connection to respective utility lines in the rotatable part of the building, the ports including at least one port communicating with each of the annular chambers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/687,687filed Oct. 13, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,308.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to rotatable buildings, and isparticularly concerned with a service or utilities supply swivel jointapparatus and method for such a building.

Although rotating buildings such as restaurants have been constructed inthe past, up to now there has been no effective and safe way to provideservices utilities or services such as water, gas or electrical powerfrom stationary lines into the rotating part of the structure.Typically, such services are provided in a fixed central portion of thebuilding about which an outer portion rotates.

Some prior art references have proposed swivel structures for providingservices within the rotating part of a building, but these arerelatively complex and cumbersome, and would have problems in passingbuilding safety codes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,378 of Kachnicand U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,975 of Kirkman both describe utilityarrangements for rotating buildings. In Kachnic, a rotatable hollowsupport column is rotatably mounted on a fixed pedestal and extendsupwardly through the building so as to rotate with the building. Variousrotary T and L joints are provided for connecting fixed portions of thegas and water pipes with portions which rotate with the building. Thisproduces a relatively complex structure. In Kirkman, a chamber member isfixed to a stationary base, and a cover member for the chamber memberrotates with the building. The chamber and cover are provided withvarious opposing annular formations of generally U-shaped form oropposing partial chambers to which the fixed conduits and rotatingconduits, respectively, are connected. This provides for waste materialdischarge, gas supply, and water supply. Again, this is relativelycomplex and would probably not pass building codes. It also does notprovide for electrical connections into the building.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,608 of Massau describes a system of collectors forpassage of fluids and electrical cables into and out of a rotatabledwelling. Each collector is generally annular in shape, comprising aninner fixed ring and an outer rotating ring rotatably connected togetherto define an annular chamber between them.

Another problem with existing swivel structures for rotatable buildingsis that the seals between rotating portions of the swivel are subject topotential failure. There is no means of effectively detecting suchfailure other than by taste or appearance of the water supply, forexample.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedswivel joint apparatus and method for supplying utilities to a rotatablebuilding.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a swivel jointapparatus is provided for supplying utilities to a rotating buildingrotatable about a central axis, which comprises an inner, fixed spindlefor securing to a fixed base of the rotatable building to extendco-axially with a central axis of rotation of the building, the spindlehaving a series of spaced, outwardly projecting annular flanges defininga series of annular chambers between each adjacent pair of flanges, eachflange having an outer peripheral edge and at least one ring sealmounted on the peripheral edge of each flange, the flanges having apredetermined outer diameter, and an outer casing rotatably mounted onthe spindle for securing to part of the rotating building, the casinghaving an inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter ofthe flanges, the casing forming an outer wall of each of the annularchambers and being in rotatable sealing engagement with each of the ringseals to seal the chambers. The spindle has a lower end wall with aplurality of ports for connection to fixed utility lines in the fixedbase of the building for fluid supply to and from the building, and abore extending from each port through the spindle to a respectiveannular chamber, with each chamber being connected to at least one portin the lower end wall. The outer casing has a series of axially spacedports including at least one port communicating with each of the annularchambers.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, each flange has anoutwardly directed, annular sensor chamber spaced outwardly from thering seal, the outer casing has a plurality of holes including at leastone hole aligned with each of the sensor chambers, and a plurality offluid sensors are mounted in the outer casing to project through therespective holes to sense any leakage of fluid past any of the seals.The sensor outputs are connected to a control unit which indicatesfailure of any of the seals. The simple construction of the rotaryutilities swivel assembly is such that it can be easily accessed forrepair, simply by disconnecting the attached utility lines via suitablequick disconnect fixtures, and removing and replacing any malfunctioningseal. At least two sensors may be provided in each of the sensorchambers, so that seal failure will still be detected even if one of thesensors should fail.

At least four annular chambers may be provided on the spindle, and thechambers are of different sizes depending on the fluid to be passedthrough the chamber. The chambers may include a sewer chamber fortransmitting waste from fixtures in the building to fixed sewer lines inthe base, a gray water chamber for transmitting waste water from sinks,baths, showers and the like to gray water disposal lines in the base, awater chamber for supplying mains water to taps in various fixtureswithin the rotatable building, and a gas supply chamber for supply ofgas to any gas fixtures in the building. Two ring seals may be providedon each annular flange which separates two adjacent chambers, with asensor chamber between each pair of ring seals to detect leakage offluid past any of the ring seals, the sensors in each sensor chamberbetween the gas supply chamber and adjacent chambers including bothwater sensors and gas sensors.

In an exemplary embodiment, an electrical swivel assembly is mounted onthe upper walls of the spindle and outer casing, the electrical swivelassembly comprising a fixed contact core mounted on the upper wall ofthe fixed spindle and an outer rotating contact portion mounted on theupper wall of the outer casing, the spindle and contact core havingaligned central through bores for passageway of fixed electrical powersupply lines from the base of the building to the contact core, and theouter contact portion having contacts for connection to power supplylines supplying power to fixtures within the rotating building. Aseparate rotary electrical connector may be mounted on the electricalswivel for supply of electrical signals such as telephone, television,cable, computer, e-mail and Internet to and from the rotating building,the rotary connector having a fixed part for connection to fixedelectrical service lines extending through the aligned central throughbores of the spindle and electrical contact core, and a rotary partrotatably mounted on the fixed part and having conductors for connectionto electrical service lines within the rotating building, the fixed partbeing coupled to the inner contact core of the electrical swivel.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofrotatably connecting fixed utility lines beneath a rotatable building tocorresponding utility lines secured within the building and rotatablewith the building is provided, which comprises the steps of:

connecting a plurality of fixed utility lines in a fixed base of arotatable building to inlet ports at the lower end of a fixed spindlesecured to the fixed base and extending co-axially with the axis ofrotation of the building, the spindle having a plurality of axiallyspaced annular chambers defined between annular flanges projectingoutwardly from the spindle, each port being connected to a respectivechamber;

connecting an outer casing rotatably mounted on the spindle to part ofthe rotating building so that the casing rotates with the building, thecasing forming an outer wall of each of the annular chambers; and

connecting a plurality of utility lines secured within the rotatablebuilding to respective ports in the outer casing, at least one port inthe outer casing communicating with each of the annular chambers.

The swivel joint apparatus of this invention is very simple and compactin construction, yet allows for reliable connection of fixed utilitylines in a fixed base of a rotatable building to corresponding utilitylines mounted within the rotating part of the building. The seal andsensor arrangement allows any leakage of fluids past a seal to bedetected, avoiding or reducing the risk of different fluids mixingtogether without knowledge of the occupants of the rotatable building.This swivel joint apparatus therefore enables a rotatable building tomeet stringent building codes more readily.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood from the followingdetailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals refer to like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a rotatable building having aservice supply swivel support apparatus according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of the circled area labeled 1A in FIG. 1,illustrating the outer rail support of the rotating part of thestructure on the lower fixed base;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section through a portion of the support base of thebuilding on lines 2—2 of FIG. 1, with some of the utility lines into andout of the building omitted for clarity;

FIG. 3 is front elevational view of the swivel support apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view, partially in section, of the innerfixed core of the swivel assembly;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section of the circled portion of FIG. 4 labeled5;

FIG. 6 is a section on the lines 6—6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section on the lines 7—7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a section on the lines 8—8 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the electrical part of the swivelassembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates a rotatable building such as a houseor the like which has a rotatable portion or living area 10 rotatablysupported on a fixed base 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 2. A serviceswivel joint assembly 14 according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is provided in the fixed base for supplying electricalpower and services, water, gas, and other utilities to the rotatingstructure.

The rotatable building 10 in the illustrated embodiment is circular inshape, although other shapes may be utilized, and has an enclosedcentral living area 16, which preferably has windows around the entirecircumference, surrounded by an annular deck or balcony 18 extendingaround the entire outer periphery of the building. The fixed base 12 hasa cylindrical outer wall 20 with an inverted T rail 22 of steel runningaround its upper rim, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. The floor 24 of therotating structure has a series of spaced inner and outer bearings 25,26which run around the rail and which are mounted in wobble boxes 28 ingroups of four. The base 12 provides a garage space for storage ofvehicles and the like.

The rotating portion 10 of the building is also rotatably supported atits center via a central elevator shaft 30 which is rotatably supportedat its lower end on a bearing assembly 32 in a central swivel chamber orpit 34 which is located below the ground level and centered on thecentral axis of the building, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Elevatorshaft 30 extends upwardly from the submerged chamber 34 to the top ofthe building, and an elevator car 36 within the shaft is suitably drivento transport the inhabitants from the garage level to and from the upperstories of the building. The central bearing assembly 32 is ofsufficient strength to support the rotating elevator shaft 30. In oneexample, the shaft 30 had an outer diameter of six feet and a height of28 feet, and the bearing was a six feet diameter, 1,364,000 lb bearingmodel A18-60P1B manufactured by Rotek, Inc. of Aurora, Ohio.

Various fixed utility lines such as sewer line 38, and other utilitylines 40 such as water, waste water or gray water, gas, electricalpower, and electrical services such as telephone, cable, television,computer, and the like, are directed into the chamber 34 for connectionto a fixed part of the swivel joint assembly 14. Corresponding sewer 42,other utilities 44, electrical power lines 45, and electrical servicelines 46 are connected to rotating parts of the swivel joint assembly attheir lower ends, and extend upwardly alongside the elevator shaft 30for connection to plumbing, gas and electrical fixtures throughout therotating portion of the building. A drain line 48 extends downwardlyfrom the roof of the building alongside the elevator shaft and backthrough a window 49 in the shaft within the chamber 34. Line 48 has anoutlet end 50 directed downwardly in the pit or chamber 34. A drainoutlet 52 is provided in the lower end of the chamber 34 for drainage ofwater from the roof. It will be understood that the various incoming andoutgoing service lines are shown schematically and not in any particularorder. Also, in practice, all of the lines can be directed outwardlythrough a single rectangular opening in the elevator shaft to one sideof the shaft, although they are illustrated extending on opposite sidesin FIG. 2 for convenience and clarity. The arrangement of the incomingand outgoing lines will be dependent on the position of the buildingrelative to the various adjacent service lines.

The swivel joint assembly 14 will now be described in more detail withreference to FIGS. 2 to 9. The assembly 14 has a lower portion 54 forcoupling the gas, sewer and water lines into and out of the rotatingstructure, and an upper portion 55 for coupling the electrical power andservice lines. The lower portion 54 basically comprises an inner fixedspool 56 and an outer swivel casing 60 rotatably mounted on fixed spool56 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6 to 8. The fixed spool 56 is coupledto the fixed base of the building via a torque bracket or lug 57connected to torque tie 58 within pit 34, as indicated in FIG. 2. Theswivel casing 60 is connected to the rotating portion 10 of the buildingby supports beams 62 which extend across the top of the casing asillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and are secured at their opposite ends tothe rotating shaft 30. The casing 60 is rotatably supported on a fixedbrass bearing ring 61 at its lower end, which in turn is secured totorque bracket or lug 57, as indicated in FIG. 3.

The fixed inner spool 56 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 4 to 8 andhas a central through bore 63 and a plurality of outwardly facing,annular chambers 64,65,66, and 67 separated by annular rings 68,69,70,71and 72 at the top and bottom of the spool and between each adjacent pairof chambers. The swivel casing is a cylindrical member which rotatesaround the inner spool and has a diameter slightly greater than thediameter of the outer rings 68 to 72, so that it forms an outer wall foreach of the annular chambers, as best illustrated for chamber 65 in FIG.6 and chamber 64 in FIG. 7. Ring seals 76 are mounted on each annularring to project outwardly into rotatable sealing engagement with theinner surface of casing, 60, sealing each of the chambers from theadjacent chambers and the exterior of the swivel joint assembly. Onering seal 76 is mounted on each of the upper and lower rings 68 and 72,while two spaced ring seals 76 are provided on each of the rings 69,70and 71 which separate adjacent chambers, for additional security. Theseals are of any suitable resilient seal material of sufficientdurability and reliability. Suitable seals for use as the ring seals 786are Z-seals with a nitride or poly-vi lip and a fluorotrel base, asmanufactured by Norther American Seals of Fresno, Calif.

The annular chambers 64 to 67 are of different sizes, depending on therequired fluid capacity. Each chamber is connected to one or more portsextending upwardly from the lower end of the spool through the centralportion of the spool and terminating in the respective chamber. Theupper, relatively large annular chamber 64 is designated as a sewerchamber, the next chamber 65 is for gray or waste water, the thirdchamber 66 is for gas, and the fourth chamber 67 is for the clean watersupply to the house. As indicated in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, a series of threeports or bores 78 are connected to the fixed sewer line 38 at the lowerend of the spool, and extend upwardly through the spool to terminate inchamber 64. A port or bore 80 of equivalent diameter to ports 78 isconnected to a fixed, gray water outlet line 40 and extends upwardlythrough spool 56 to terminate at an outlet 82 in chamber 65, asindicated in FIGS. 4 and 6. A third bore or port 84 of smaller diameteris connected to a gas line 40 at the lower end of the assembly 14 andextends upwardly through the spool to terminate at an inlet 85 intochamber 66. A pair of ports or bores 86 extend from fixed water lines 40through the spool to terminate at an inlet 88 into the lowermost orclean water chamber 67, as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 8.

The outer swivel casing forms an outer, rotating cylindrical wall foreach of the chambers 64 to 67, and includes various ports for connectionto utility lines extending to various fixtures within the rotating partof the building, such as sinks, showers, baths, toilets, gas powereddevices and the like. As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 7, three ports90 project radially through the wall of casing 60 and communicate withthe sewer chamber 64. A gray water port 92 is spaced beneath one of theports 90 and communicates with the gray water chamber 65. A smalldiameter gas port 94 is positioned in the casing beneath port 92 andcommunicates with gas distribution chamber 66. Finally, a pair of cleanwater ports 95 are positioned below port 94 and communicate with waterchamber 67, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The various sewer and utilitylines 42,44, only some of which are shown in FIG. 2 for illustrationpurposes, are connected to the various ports 90,92,94 and 95 and extendupwardly alongside the elevator shaft 30, exiting away from the shaft atthe two or more floor levels for connection to the appropriate fixtureswithin the living areas of the rotating structure.

Each of the annular rings or flanges 68 to 72 defining the axial endwalls of the various chambers also has a groove or indent 96 on itsouter periphery which forms a sensor chamber. The indent 96 is locatedbetween the seal rings on the annular flanges 69,70 and 71 betweenadjacent chambers, and above or below the seal ring 76 on the endflanges 68 and 72, respectively. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a pair ofdiametrically opposed water sensors 98 are mounted on the outer swivelcasing 60 to extend through sealed holes in the casing into theuppermost indent or chamber 96. A pair of diametrically opposed watersensors 98 are also mounted to extend through the casing into thechamber 96 in flange 69. These sensors will detect any leakage of sewerwater from the sewer chamber 64. Water sensors 98 also project throughthe casing into the chambers 96 in flanges 70,71 and 72, as indicated inFIG. 3, to detect any leakage of gray water from chamber 65, or cleanwater from chamber 67. Gas sensors 99 also extend into the chambers 96in flanges 70 and 71 at opposite ends of the gas supply chamber 66, sothat these chambers have sensors for detecting leakage of either gas orwater past the seals 76, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

The utility swivel assembly therefore incorporates multiple sensors fordetecting failure of any of the ring seals. Each sensor chamber has atleast two sensors for water, and the sensor chambers between gas andwater chambers have two water sensors and two gas sensors. This providesredundancy in case of failure of a sensor. There are two annular or ringseals between adjacent chambers, providing further redundancy to reducethe risk of any mixing between the various fluid inputs and outputs toand from the house. The sensor outputs will be connected to a controlunit having a computer controller within the house, and will indicatefailure of any of the seals. The swivel assembly is very simple inconstruction and provides easy access for repair or replacement of sealsor sensors.

The upper or electrical portion 55 of the swivel assembly is mounted ontop of the plumbing part 54 of the swivel, as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4and 9. As best illustrated in FIG. 9, the electrical supply swivel 55 isa three conductor electrical swivel, and includes an inner, fixed powerconducting core 100 which is secured to the upper end of the fixedutilities spool 56 via coupling sleeve 102 secured to the upper end ofthe spool by mounting bolts 104, and an end plug 103 of the core whichis keyed to the coupling sleeve 102. Electrical power supply lines 105extend upwardly through the central through bore 63 in the fixed spool60, into the conductive core 100, and are secured to three separateconductive rings 106,107 and 108 in the core 100, which are separated byinsulator rings 110.

The electrical swivel has an outer rotating portion having a base plate112 secured to the top plate 114 of the outer swivel casing 60 of theplumbing swivel, and a series of upwardly projecting posts 116projecting upwardly from the base plate around a ring spaced outwardlyfrom core 100, and connected to a top plate 118 at the upper end of theswivel. A junction box 120 is mounted on the rotating top plate 118 andthe power supply lines 45 extend upwardly from box 120 along theelevator shaft and project outwardly for connection to variouselectrical sockets and appliances within the rotating portion of thehouse. Spring loaded brushes 122 project inwardly from the posts 116 tocontact the three conductive rings 106,107, and 108, respectively. Aconnecting line 124 extends from each brush 122 to the junction box 120,as illustrated in FIG. 9.

An eight conductor, low noise rotating electrical connector 126 ismounted on top of the electrical swivel 55 via a rubber coupling sleeve128 bolted to the top plate 129 of the fixed part of the electricalswivel via threaded rods 130 and bolts 132. The connector 126 has alower fixed portion 134 and an upper rotating portion 135 which isconnected to the various electrical service lines 46 extending into thehouse for communication of TV, telephone and computer signals and thelike. The fixed portion 134 is coupled to the fixed core 106 of theelectrical swivel. Fixed electrical service lines 136 for cable,computer, TV and telephone signals extend upwardly through the centralbore 63 in the fixed spool 56, the center of the fixed power conductingcore 106 of the electrical swivel, and a central opening 138 in the topplate 118 of the rotating part of the electrical swivel, and areconnected to the fixed lower portion 134 of the rotary connector 126.

The electrical swivel 55 may be a standard, off-the-shelf electricalslip ring swivel for providing 240 Volt, 200 Amp electrical supply tothe rotating portion of the structure. The upper, rotary electricalconnector 126 is preferably an eight wire, mercury filled rotatingharness which is very low noise and produces minimal signalinterference, such as the Model No. 830 rotating connector availablefrom Mercotac Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif., or equivalents. Similarconnectors with a greater or lesser number of conductors or differentamperage or voltage may be used if required.

A suitable drive mechanism (not illustrated) will be provided forrotating the rotatable portion 10 of the house in either directionrelative to the fixed base 12, with the swivel joint apparatus allowingall of the utility and electrical service lines within the rotatingportion of the house to rotate relative to the fixed part of theapparatus 14. In an exemplary embodiment, the drive mechanism used athree horsepower motor with ramp up and ramp down speed control somovement will not be felt by individuals within the moving part of thestructure. The movement can be stopped, reversed, or varied as desiredvia a control panel within the building, and may be manual or voicecontrolled.

The swivel joint apparatus 14 of this invention is very simple inconstruction and allows for easy access and repair. It has built insensors for detecting any failure in the seals, and the seals, rotarybearings, and other portions of the apparatus are of sufficient strengthand durability to potentially last over twenty years without any majorservice. Unlike prior art swivel joints for rotating buildings, theapparatus 14 will meet most building codes for plumbing and electricalconnections

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been describedabove by way of example only, it will be understood by those skilled inthe field that modifications may be made to the disclosed embodimentwithout departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined bythe appended claims.

1. A swivel joint apparatus for supplying utilities to a rotatingbuilding rotatable about a central axis, comprising: an inner, fixedspindle for securing to a fixed base of a rotatable building to extendco-axially with a central axis of rotation of the building, the spindlehaving a series of spaced, outwardly projecting annular flanges defininga series of annular chambers between each adjacent pair of flanges, eachflange having an outer peripheral edge and at least one ring sealmounted on the peripheral edge of each flange, the flanges having apredetermined outer diameter; an outer casing rotatably mounted on thespindle for securing to part of the rotating building, the casing havingan inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of theflanges, the casing forming an outer wall of each of the annularchambers and being in rotatable sealing engagement with each of the ringseals to seal the chambers; the spindle having a lower end wall with aplurality of ports for connection to fixed utility lines in the fixedbase of the building for fluid supply to and from the building, and abore extending from each port through the spindle to a respectiveannular chamber, whereby each chamber is connected to at least one portin the lower end wall; the outer casing having a series of axiallyspaced ports including at least one port communicating with each of saidannular chambers; each flange having an outwardly directed, annularsensor chamber spaced outwardly from the ring seal; the outer casinghaving a plurality of holes including at least one hole aligned witheach of the sensor chambers; and a plurality of fluid sensors aremounted in the outer casing to project through the respective holes tosense any leakage of fluid past any of the seals.
 2. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein one of the annular chambers comprises asewer chamber for connecting rotating sewer lines within the rotatablebuilding to fixed sewer lines within the base, the spindle having morethan one bore communicating with the sewer chamber and the outer casinghaving a plurality of ports communicating with the sewer chamber.
 3. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the annular chambers furtherinclude a water chamber for supply of water from a fixed water line inthe base to water supply lines within the rotating building, and a graywater chamber for connecting at least one gray water drain line withinthe rotating building to gray water drain outlet line in the base. 4.The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the annular chambersinclude a gas supply chamber for connecting a gas supply line in thebase to gas supply lines within the rotatable building.
 5. A swiveljoint apparatus for supplying utilities to a rotating building rotatableabout a central axis, comprising: an inner, fixed spindle for securingto a fixed base of a rotatable building to extend co-axially with acentral axis of rotation of the building, the spindle having a series ofspaced, outwardly projecting annular flanges defining a series ofannular chambers between each adjacent pair of flanges, each flangehaving an outer peripheral edge and at least one ring seal mounted onthe peripheral edge of each flange, the flanges having a predeterminedouter diameter; an outer casing rotatably mounted on the spindle forsecuring to part of the rotating building, the casing having an innerdiameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the flanges, thecasing forming an outer wall of each of the annular chambers and beingin rotatable sealing engagement with each of the ring seals to seal thechambers; the spindle having a lower end wall with a plurality of portsfor connection to fixed utility lines in the fixed base of the buildingfor fluid supply to and from the building, and a bore extending fromeach port through the spindle to a respective annular chamber, wherebyeach chamber is connected to at least one port in the lower end wall;the outer casing having a series of axially spaced ports including atleast one port communicating with each of said annular chambers; theannular flanges including two end flanges at opposite ends of thespindle forming an outer end wall of respective opposite end chambers,and a plurality of spaced intermediate flanges separating adjacentchambers along the length of the spindle, each intermediate flangehaving a pair of spaced ring seals projecting outwardly from itsperipheral edge for rotatable sealing engagement with said outer casing;and each intermediate flange having a sensor chamber between the pair ofring seals, and each end flange having a sensor chamber outside the ringseal mounted on the respective end flange, a plurality of fluid sensorsbeing mounted on the outer casing to extend into the respective sensorchambers to detect leakage of fluid past any of the ring seals, thesensors having outputs for connection to a control unit within therotatable building to provide an alarm signal in the event of failure ofany of the seals.
 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein atleast two sensors are provided in each sensor chamber.
 7. The apparatusas claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one of the annular chamberscomprises a gas supply chamber for communicating a gas supply from thefixed base into the rotating part of the building, at least one chamberadjacent the gas supply chamber is a water chamber, and at least onewater sensor and one gas sensor is provided in the sensor chamberbetween the gas supply chamber and water chamber.
 8. A swivel jointapparatus for supplying utilities to a rotating building rotatable abouta central axis, comprising: an inner, fixed spindle for securing to afixed base of a rotatable building to extend co-axially with a centralaxis of rotation of the building, the spindle having a series of spaced,outwardly projecting annular flanges defining a series of annularchambers between each adjacent pair of flanges, each flange having anouter peripheral edge and at least one ring seal mounted on theperipheral edge of each flange, the flanges having a predetermined outerdiameter; an outer casing rotatably mounted on the spindle for securingto part of the rotating building, the casing having an inner diametersubstantially equal to the outer diameter of the flanges, the casingforming an outer wall of each of the annular chambers and being inrotatable sealing engagement with each of the ring seals to seal thechambers; the spindle having a lower end wall with a plurality of portsfor connection to fixed utility lines in the fixed base of the buildingfor fluid supply to and from the building, and a bore extending fromeach port through the spindle to a respective annular chamber, wherebyeach chamber is connected to at least one port in the lower end wall;the outer casing having a series of axially spaced ports including atleast one port communicating with each of said annular chambers; and thefixed spindle and outer casing having upper end walls, and an electricalswivel assembly being mounted on the upper walls of the spindle andouter casing, the electrical swivel assembly comprising a fixed contactcore mounted on the upper wall of the fixed spindle and an outerrotating contact portion mounted on the upper wall of the outer casing,the spindle and contact core having aligned central through bores forpassageway of fixed electrical power supply lines from the base of thebuilding to the contact core, and the outer contact portion havingcontacts for connection to power supply lines supplying power tofixtures within the rotating building.
 9. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 8, including a rotary connector mounted on said electrical swivelfor supply of electrical services to the rotating building, the rotaryconnector having a fixed part for connection to fixed electrical servicelines extending through the aligned central through bores of the spindleand electrical contact core, and a rotary part rotatably mounted on thefixed part and having conductors for connection to electrical servicelines within the rotating building, the rotary part being coupled to theouter rotating contact portion of the electrical swivel.